Weekend B.O. Sept. 13-15 (Where Did That Come From?)

I mean a little
film that literally comes out of nowhere and becomes a box office shocker. Where did it come from?

Last time it was this summer’s horror/thriller The Purge. A low budget film with a premise that has been done dozens
of times before - that of a family terrorized by a home invasion - yet everyone flocked to see it as if it’s the most important
thing to see in their lives.

Now it's happened again with Insidious: Chapter 2.

The first film, directed by James Wan (who also directed Chapter 2), which opened in April 2011 and was made for under a million dollars, was a genuine
surprise sleeper hit, grossing some $54
million.

No doubt the popularity of the first film made the sequel
a "must see" movie, leading to its very impressive showing. And Wan’s huge horror
hit this summer for Warners, The Conjuring, also
helped a lot. But $41 million? Who
saw that coming? I don’t recall any TV
ads or even newspapers adverts for the film at all. But evidently, everyone
knew about it and rushed out to see it.

At $41 million, that’s the second highest weekend take for
any film in the month of September, the highest still being Hotel Transylvania, which took in $42.5 million in it’s opening September
release.

In the meantime, Lee
Daniels’ The Butler has now officially crossed the $100 million dollar mark, putting Daniels in the rare position as
one of very the few black directors who’s made a film that has grossed $100
million domestically.